DCMM 2009 presents a conference “on the globalisation of western classical music”.

The conference takes place on Sunday afternoon and is moderated by Neil Wallace, Artistic Director of Concert Hall De Doelen in Rotterdam.

The starting point for the conference is the text  “Will the future of Western classical music lie outside the West?” by Michael Nieuwenhuizen and the reactions on that text that will be published on the website.

Responses on this text:

Globalisation of music by way of polyphony
Some observations about DCMM, Amsterdam, by Rokus de Groot

1. This is a plea to view globalisation of music as a complex phenomenon, and not as a process of leveling. Recognition and enjoyment of complexity are called for in composition, performance, modes of listening, programming, marketing, education.

2. Tendencies of globalisation have their counterpart in processes of localisation: the emphasis on, and development of local practices, often connected with the insistence on specific socio-cultural identities. Read more>>

The globalization of Classical Music and its use as an instrument of social Inclusion in Brazil.
Reaction by Luiz Hernane Barrosde Carvalho M.M.D. Cellist, pedagogue, Music Project Leader

In Brazil most of the States offer educational classical music program to its children and recently a new law has past in congress to make music lessons part of the normal curricular routine at public schools. In several Brazilian States children and adolescents coming from parents of poor origins are taking part in projects of classical music where they learn to play instruments and make classical music as a way out of criminality and other risky behaviour; in this way these children and adolescents that previously did not have any chance to develop themselves are now finding their way out of poverty and its consequences by music making. Read More >>

[Translate to English:] Reaction by Michael Wilpers, music programmer Freer Gallery of Art/Arthur M. Sackler Gallery - Smithsonian Institution

The many complex issues raised by the question of globalization and Western classical music are all highly debatable.  Especially difficult are the definitions of relevant spatial and temporal borders:  Where does the West end and the non-West begin?  When did European music begin being influenced by outside forces (perhaps when Arab scholars preserved Greek music treatises in Arabic translation during the Middle Ages)?  When is music classical or not in the Western sense (with instrumentation, for example)?  When does education and exposure to Western classical music (say, at the Shanghai  Conservatory) trump being geographically located in the West in endowing an appreciation of this music?
Read more>>

[Translate to English:] Reaction by Jahangir Selimkhanov, Arts & Culture Program Director, Azerbaijan

In order to find more practice-driven answers to the questions posed by the keynote text, we should perhaps agree on a more precise set of shared terms and notions. In this sense Western classical music is a definition with quite blurred ’borders’ - it’s difficult to say exactly, at which period ‘European’ became ‘Western’, which countries and regions belong to the West and which do not (is, for example, post-industrial Japan a part of the West or the East? Does Russia belong to the West or the East? The answer might be different once we mean political power axis in 1950s or music by Peter Tchaikovsky).
Read more >>

[Translate to English:] The Future of Western Classical Music
Reaction by Margaret M. Lioi, Chief Executive Officer Chamber Music America New York City, U.S.A.

The question has been posed: “What will happen to the European classical canon if it gradually grows apart from the origins of its birth?” There are many perspectives from which to examine the question; each will offer a different way of thinking, but none will provide a definitive answer. Read more >>

What globalization and what western classical music tradition?
Reaction by Rafael Fraga, Composition Master Student Conservatory of Amsterdam

After reading carefully the keynotes for the conference as well some of the available comments, I would like to refer to some issues. I believe the striking points of the text can be resumed in the following questions: What will happen to the European classical canon if it gradually grows apart from its origin of birth and what does this all mean for classical music life in Europe? Read more >>

Must all music, either programmed or composed today, succumb to the trends of Globalization to be relevant?
Reaction by Peter Martens, Festival Director Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival

Although globalization in contemporary classical music essentially means the juxtaposition and inclusion of styles and influences from South America to Japan, this trend has taken on a specific meaning in South Africa. Not withstanding the existence of true globalization as a very prevalent trend in our country, Africanization seems to be the in thing, in an industry largely shaped by the history and culture of Europe up to now. Read more >>

Reaction by Kambiz Roshanravan,
Composer, Professor IRIB University
(Former Director Fajr Festival Teheran)

Globalization of Classical Music
Classical music which sometime called as traditional music of Europe with its very long tradition and many great masters as composers, performers and conductors is already known and respected troughout the world.
In some countries specially those with remarkable old traditional and folk music.. Read more >>

Reaction by Dr. Thomas Gartmann - Pro Helvetia Schweizer Kulturstiftung, Leiter Musik, Switzerland

Never before there have been available such different sorts of music. On the Internet, with ringtones, in the CD shop, on the radio, in concert; the complete disposability is celebrated: music of various periods, classes and nations gather in a virtual warehouse for musical adventurers, tourists and voyeurs. Read more >>

Reaction by Carsten Dürer - Chief editor ENSEMBLE - magazine for chamber music, Germany

I think we already have a globalisation, especially in chamber music. That is due to the fact that increasingly more musicians at chamber music festivals which I regularly attend are from so many different countries. Therefore we should pose a different question.  Do we need more influences of world music in classical chamber music? This is a possibility, but it must not erase our focus on the traditional chamber music, which is a kind of cradle of so many influences, travelling all over the world. There are categories, which make living with music much more easy. Couldn't we stick to classical chamber music in terms of western European chamber music and in addition to this converse on the great influence it has in terms of "World Music", music from all different perspectives of the countries in the world? This could simplify things…

A plea for unity in diversity
by Saskia Törnqvist, musicologist, music journalist, critic for Het Parool
 
Does one need to have grown up with Wiener schnitzel and the Bible to be able to perform the Viennese classics properly? Does one have to have been raised with Hafez, the Quran and couscous to identify with the music of the Islamic world? Now that rapid musical globalization has become a fact, countless musicians, composers and critics are facing such questions. Read more >>

We appreciate your feedback on this text ,your thoughts on globalization of the western classical music tradition, the description of your own musical environment or any other ideas, views, essays that you want to share related to the subject of this text (or details from it), up to a maximum 500 words!

All contributions can be sent to dcmm[at]mcn.nl.

They will be presented on the DCMM conference webpage for all participants and visitors of the website to read.

We’ll keep the discussion on the web going until the start of Dutch Chamber Music Meeting 2009.